World leaders from the G20 rich and developing economies broke with tradition and adopted a declaration at the start of their summit in South Africa on Saturday, despite opposition from the US, which is boycotting the two-day talks in a diplomatic rift with the host country.
Vincent Magwenya, the spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said a leaders’ declaration was adopted unanimously by the other members at the start of the talks in Johannesburg. Declarations are usually adopted at the end of G20 summits.
The 122-point declaration urged more global action on issues that specifically affect poor countries, such as climate-related disasters and sovereign debt levels, and was promoted by the host country as a victory for the first G20 summit to be held in Africa.
Photo: Pool via REUTERS
The summit has been overshadowed by a boycott ordered by US President Donald Trump, and Washington had put pressure on South Africa not to adopt a leaders’ declaration in the absence of a US delegation, South African officials said.
South Africa’s summit had an ambitious agenda to make progress on solving some of the long-standing problems that have afflicted the developing world, and leaders and top government officials came together at an exhibition center near the township of Soweto, which was once home to former South African president Nelson Mandela.
Many of South Africa’s priorities, especially a focus on climate change and confronting global inequality, met resistance from the US. However, as he opened the summit, Ramaphosa said that “consensus has emerged.”
Then, in comments to leaders that were apparently mistakenly broadcast during what was meant to be the start of closed-door discussions, Ramaphosa could be heard saying leaders would move “to adopt our declaration now.”
South Africa’s foreign minister walked over and whispered in Ramaphosa’s ear, and the South African leader said: “OK. I’m told that the cameras are still on. They should be off.”
While Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said the declaration was unanimous, Argentina said it did not endorse it.
Argentine President Javier Milei also did not attend the summit in solidarity with ally Trump, and the country was represented by Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Pablo Quirno.
South Africa set the agenda for the summit as the country holding the rotating G20 presidency, and wanted leaders to agree to more help for poor countries to recover from climate-fueled disasters, reduce their foreign debt burdens, transition to green energy sources and harness their own critical mineral wealth.
G20 declarations detail broad agreements reached by the members. South Africa said the US was exerting pressure to tone down the final document to a unilateral statement from the host country.
Ramaphosa responded this week by saying “we will not be bullied.”
The direction of the G20 bloc is likely to change sharply after the US takes over the rotating presidency at the end of the summit.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
China yesterday held a low-key memorial ceremony for the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not attending, despite a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan. Beijing has raged at Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month said that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan. China and Japan have long sparred over their painful history. China consistently reminds its people of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which it says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then its capital. A post-World War II Allied tribunal put the death toll
A passerby could hear the cacophony from miles away in the Argentine capital, the unmistakable sound of 2,397 dogs barking — and breaking the unofficial world record for the largest-ever gathering of golden retrievers. Excitement pulsed through Bosques de Palermo, a sprawling park in Buenos Aires, as golden retriever-owners from all over Argentina transformed the park’s grassy expanse into a sea of bright yellow fur. Dog owners of all ages, their clothes covered in dog hair and stained with slobber, plopped down on picnic blankets with their beloved goldens to take in the surreal sight of so many other, exceptionally similar-looking ones.
‘UNWAVERING ALLIANCE’: The US Department of State said that China’s actions during military drills with Russia were not conducive to regional peace and stability The US on Tuesday criticized China over alleged radar deployments against Japanese military aircraft during a training exercise last week, while Tokyo and Seoul yesterday scrambled jets after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols near the two countries. The incidents came after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan. “China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a US Department of State spokesperson said late on Tuesday, referring to the radar incident. “The US-Japan alliance is stronger and more
RSS